Shure Se215 or Etymonics HF5?

In the market for new headphones and these two came to my attention. I listen to a large variety of music including including nearly everything but most pop and country. I like the punchy bass the 215s have for rap and perhaps rock but I really like the idea of hearing everything in my music, which is why I am enticed by the hf5. I was just wondering what the overall perceptions and thoughts about theae headphones are and if the hf5 are worth it over the shures, despite the lacking bass. Would rap and other bass heavy genres suffer as a result??

The 215's are dead sounding I find, yet shrill in a way as well. Not a terrible set, just they certainly don't involve you in the music. Also, the bass is not incredible. It's there, but not a basshead sound to me. I feel it is enhanced by the fact that everything else is flat sounding, with no musicality

Hmm, maybe I had a bad pair. When I first got them I liked them a lot. I went to foam tips, helped with sealing the sound, but after some time, I just hated the sound. Sounded like a headphone rather than speakers, artificial. Yes, in-ears usually sound more like headphones, compared to larger driver on or over ears, but at the time I was only using in-ears really, and I just didn't like the sound. To me, it was like they sounded quiet no matter what volume, like something was blocking the sound. I tried other ear tips later on to see if it was the foam ones, but I still didn't enjoy them. The sound was never blocked, but the sound seemed like it. Perhaps the highs were to rolled off, making it sound like a mono speaker from the 30's and 40's

SE215 struck me the opposite. Anything but shrill. Highs are rolled off some, bass is deep, mids forward; the sound fun and musical; not flat.

That is a really good description of the SE215. Definitely not flat!

I think you'd have to do something crazy with eq to make the Shures sound harsh. The treble roll off is slight and not something to worry about that much. The mids are great, singers sound very good. The bass is exaggerated but not booming like on cheaper bass-emphasised IEMs and it doesn't make the mids seem recessed. The extra bass works best anywhere noisy as it masks external noise and lets you enjoy more of the music. It's a bit less satisfactory when listening somewhere quiet but still not bad as the Shures respond well to eq so you can easily roll off the bass a little without ruining the sound.

I think you'd have to do something crazy with eq to make the Shures sound harsh. The treble roll off is slight and not something to worry about that much. The mids are great, singers sound very good. The bass is exaggerated but not booming like on cheaper bass-emphasised IEMs and it doesn't make the mids seem recessed. The extra bass works best anywhere noisy as it masks external noise and lets you enjoy more of the music. It's a bit less satisfactory when listening somewhere quiet but still not bad as the Shures respond well to eq so you can easily roll off the bass a little without ruining the sound.

Interesting that the OP selected as contenders two of the more isolating IEM's, except that one of them was suitable for the balanced sound that he seemed to prefer.

I own both. I like using SE-215 exactly as you describe - traveling the metro where a rumbling, screeching train entering a cavernous station with hard walls is not heard; and the bass I look forward to is not entirely minimized. Similar above ground with the large trucks and busses; many times idling nearby on city streets.

i have used every shure iem over a span of 7-8 years, just recently got into another brand. however i always loved the grey silicone tips both for isolation and sound ymmv....however i didnt like foam or the olives they seemed to stifle out the highs and mids so i never used them.

however the ea810 tips are probably the best they came with the e2c/e3c/e5c ect...they have a flared tip this helps with extension of mids and highs,